Brett D'Oliveira signs new contract with Worcestershire

Brett D'Oliveira has signed a new three-year contract with Worcestershire which commits him to the county until the end of the 2019 season.

The 22-year-old is currently Worcestershire's leading scorer in the Specsavers County Championship with 690 runs at an average of nearly 50 after being converted successfully from a lower middle-order batsman into an opener.

D'Oliveira, who finished as the county's top run-getter in this season's NatWest T20 Blast, made his first-class debut for Worcestershire in 2012 following in the footsteps of his grandfather Basil and father Damian.

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The leg spinner made his England Lions debut earlier this week and featured in the final two Lions matches of the Tri-Series with Pakistan 'A' and Sri Lanka 'A' at Canterbury.

"Brett has had a fantastic season so far," Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes said. "We are delighted with the progress he is making, he has got into the Lions squad which is a credit to himself, and the club wanted to reward him with a longer deal.

"It is so pleasing to know that he is a Worcestershire player for the next three years. You want to try and keep hold of your best players, and he is certainly one of our best players now."

Worcestershire have now signed 12 players on new contracts since last August, including wicketkeeper Ben Cox and all-rounder George Rhodes, and D'Oliveira is pleased to join them.

"This is a week you dream of, with the Lions debut and now the new contract," D'Oliveira said. "The last 12 months have gone well. You don't expect to have such a breakthrough year like this. 

"I was expecting to do better than in previous years and I'm delighted with how well it has gone and hopefully I can keep it up for the three years of this new contract.

"A lot of lads have signed long-term contracts and are loyal to the club and it means we can keep this group of players together, develop and hopefully go onto win the trophies that we all want."